The Coach Who Made Fermín López Unstoppable — and Helped Bury Real Madrid
Fermín López is having a ridiculous season for Barcelona. But the man who shaped him? He's managing Albacete in the Spanish second tier.
Fermín López is quietly putting together one of the best individual seasons at Barcelona in years — and the bloke most responsible for it isn’t Hansi Flick.
The numbers don’t lie
Let’s just get this out there: 11 goals and 12 assists in 32 appearances is a proper return for a central midfielder. That’s not a fluke, that’s a player who’s genuinely arrived. He’s already matched his best-ever goal tally — set last season, his first full campaign with the first team — and there’s still plenty of football left to play.
Break it down and it gets even more impressive:
- 5 goals in La Liga
- 5 goals in the Champions League (Barcelona’s top scorer in the competition this season)
- 1 goal in the Supercopa de España
- The Copa del Rey is the only competition where he’s yet to get off the mark
Against Levante, he popped up in the 81st minute and curled a lovely left-footed effort past Ryan from the edge of the box. Composed, confident, clinical.
Two-footed? That wasn’t always the case
Here’s the bit that makes this story properly interesting. Fermín is naturally right-footed. But of his 11 goals this season, six have come with his left. Six. That’s not a coincidence — that’s hours and hours on the training pitch.
And the man who drilled it into him? Alberto González, who coached Fermín during his loan spell at Linares in the 2022-23 season and now manages Albacete — yes, the same Albacete who knocked Real Madrid out of the Copa del Rey before losing to Barça in the quarters.
González apparently kept on at Fermín to use both feet, to slow down, to stop rushing his decisions. By his own admission, Fermín used to be a bit hasty in front of goal. That loan spell changed him — not just technically, but mentally and physically too.
The Linares effect
It’s one of those lovely football stories that gets lost in the noise of the big clubs. A young lad goes out on loan to a modest club in southern Spain, gets a manager who genuinely believes in him, and comes back a completely different — and far more dangerous — player.
González turned Fermín from a promising kid into someone who could genuinely hurt you with either foot. That’s not easy to coach. Most players who try to develop their weaker foot end up with two average feet rather than one great one. Fermín’s managed to actually crack it.
What it means for Barcelona
For Flick, having Fermín in this kind of form is a right result. He’s not just chipping in with the odd goal — he’s a consistent threat, a creator, and someone who can unlock games when they’re tight. At 21, the ceiling is still miles away.
The maddest part of all this? The coach who arguably shaped him most is sat in the Segunda División, quietly getting on with it at Albacete. Football’s funny like that, innit.